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The research, coordinated by Professor Michele Caraglia, head of the Molecular and Precision Oncology Laboratory at Biogem, highlighted the innovative use of nanoparticles to deliver microRNA (miRNA) as a potential treatment for glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive primary brain tumors. The work, carried out by Dr. Marianna Abate (Biogem) and Professor Silvia Zappavigna (University of Campania L. Vanvitelli), supported by Professors Giuseppe De Rosa and Virginia Campani (Department of Pharmacy, University Federico II) and by Doctors Carlo Leonetti and Manuela Porru (Istituto Superiore di Sanità), concerns, in particular, the multiforme glioblastoma, which represents 54% of all gliomas, with an incidence of 15% of all primary brain tumors in adults. A fatal neoplasm, usually characterized by a median survival of only 15 months after diagnosis.

<<Despite the progress in the molecular characterization of glioblastoma - says Marianna Abate - the treatment is not personalized yet and is based on a protocol that includes surgical resection followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the latter then repeated, with an unfortunately bad prognosis>>. <<Thanks to our study - adds Dr. Abate - we have instead developed a combined therapy based on miRNA, miR-603, and miR-221, targeting the enzyme O6-methylguanine methyl transferase (MGMT), a DNA repair enzyme that stimulates chemo-resistance>>.

<<The in vitro studies - adds Dr. Abate - have demonstrated the biocompatibility of the used nanoparticle formulations and the synergistic effect of the treatment combined with the chemotherapy. The tests performed on animal models of glioblastoma resulted, in particular, in an animal survival’s increase of about 30%. In fact, it was possible to observe, after only four weeks of treatment, a stabilization of the disease in 66% of the cases examined>>.

<<The aim of the work that I coordinated – confirms Professor Caraglia – is to propose an innovative therapeutic strategy for the treatment of glioblastoma>> and <<the emerging results – finally declares the professor – represent a concrete hope for improving the clinical outcomes of patients affected by this devastating form of cancer>>.

The biosensor, also relevant for the detection of several other human pathologies, has been designed and developed by the Molecular and Precision Oncology laboratory of Biogem (Ariano Irpino), directed by Professor Michele Caraglia, at the beginning of 2023, and it will be presented in Lille, during the thirteenth edition of Biofit, one of the most important European events in the life sciences. The French meeting, which will take place on December 3rd and 4th, aims to close the gap between research and industries, and to encourage the creation of networks between public and private players in the sector. An objective constantly  pursued by Biogem, represented in Lille by its International Marketing Director, Michele Farisco, who has already 'booked' over thirty face-to-face meetings with representatives of institutes and companies in the biotechnology sector.

<<The biosensor we invented – says Professor Caraglia – is a disposable and low-cost analytical support, it is made of electro-spinned nanofibers, and it is directed towards miRNA targets relevant for the diagnosis and prognosis of different pathologies>>.

Designed by a team of researchers including, among others, in addition to Caraglia himself, Marianna Scrima and Alessia Maria Cossu (also from the oncology research area of ​​Biogem), CNR researchers Luca De Stefano, Ilaria Rea and Sara Martino, and Professor Gabriella Misso from the Vanvitelli University, the new patented biosensor, mainly targeting the biomedical and health market, especially the oncology sector, <<has the advantages  – Caraglia further emphasizes – of rather low production costs and manufacturing technologies compatible with large-scale industrial production>>.

<<Biofit – ​says ​Michele Farisco – will be the perfect place to promote the Biogem preclinical services, especially the test activities on potential new drugs, performed by our GLP-certified Test Facility>>. <<A cutting-edge facility – Farisco finally outlines – for the production of proteins and antibodies and for the several efficacy studies on in vitro and on animal oncology models>>.

The Health Innovation Trailblazer Awards Academic had been awarded to the head of Biogem Stem and Tissue Regeneration research laboratory, as part of the third edition of the 'UAE International Genomics Awards', held at the end of May in the Emirati city. The significant contribution potentially offered to the future of medicine by Professor Falco has been recognized, with particular reference to his studies and experiments on organoids, aimed at strengthening the preclinical activity in the field of oncological and genetic pathologies. The award, delivered by the geneticist Maryam Matar (the first Emirati woman to hold the position of general director in the Government of her country) and by Sheikh Nahyān bin Mubarak Al Nahyan (former Minister of Scientific Research of the Emirates), ideally involves all the group of Professor Falco and his research activities, focused on the role of molecular mechanisms associated with stemness in oncological processes.

''Particular attention – specifies Falco – has always been paid by us to tumor progression and drug resistance, with the aim of improving the reliability of preclinical models in the development of pharmacological therapies, with an evolution which, starting from the in vitro study, has led us to the development of preclinical models in vivo, and lately ex vivo, through the use of organoids for the enhancement of personalized therapies''.

''The award just received - Falco finally says - will be a further stimulus for Biogem's research activities which, in the near future, will focus on technological transfer (bringing laboratory data to clinical practice in a short time) and on the ability to identify the patient's needs in the diagnostic and pharmacological field".

The event, scheduled on June 25-26 in the charming city of Kaunas, virtually concludes the activities of the COST-Action 'CONNECT 2020-2024', the international research network on cognitive decline in chronic kidney disease, which had among its main players the scientific director of Biogem, Prof. Giovambattista Capasso. Even if unable to be physically present, he is involved in the two-day Lithuanian meeting with several talks, including the opening and closing talks. Prof. Capasso says that this meeting ''represents the opportunity to sum up the results achieved up to now from the CONNECT project (which will last until next October), but will serve, above all, to lay the foundations for an immediate re-launch of the initiative, with the hope of getting new EC funding''. A result that Professor Capasso thinks is likely, considering the successful ''networking of studies, moreover multidisciplinary, on the causal relationships between chronic kidney disease and cognitive disorders, considered pioneering only until a few years ago, but which today arouse the attention of the entire scientific community''.